Statement by TUV leader and North Antrim MP Jim Allister:
“It is quite clear that the 2015 assessment of the Provisionals has not changed. That assessment found that the PIRA:
Retained an “Army Council” which members believed oversaw both the PIRA and Sinn Fein with an overarching strategy;
Retained “departments” with specific responsibilities and
Still had weapons which had not been decommissioned.
“Over the weekend there has been a politically motivated attempt to kick up dust about the issue. Why? Because some clearly want to spare the blushes of those Unionist parties who sustain Sinn Fein in government.
“It is simply an intolerable situation for the lead party in the Executive to be controlled and directed by an illegal terrorist organisation with the blood of over 1,700 people on its hands. Yet it seems that that is precisely what the political establishment has decided to tolerate.
“Little wonder that support for the Protocol implementing Stormont Executive headed by a Sinn Fein party mired in scandal after scandal is at rock bottom among ordinary loyalists.”